


Iris

by CaptainOzone



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Drabble Collection, Identity Issues, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, In which there are many reveals, ML Fandom Week, Multi, Of the identity and non-identity variety, Oneshot collection, Reveal, Revelations, Secret Identity, more tags/characters to come
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:18:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7769914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainOzone/pseuds/CaptainOzone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They don't want the world to see them because they don't think the world will understand. But then again, when everything is bound to shatter at a moment's notice, maybe they just want someone to know who they truly are.</p><p>A collection of revelations, identity reveals, and more. No one is safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Iris

**Author's Note:**

> If you could not tell, the summary was very much influenced by the lyrics from "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls, which I do not own. :D

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lately, Adrien can't help but wonder if it's worth it anymore, and it's tearing him apart. 
> 
> An Enemies!AU in which I could not decide between the two prompts for mlfandomweek day one and decided to implement both into a...Family Reveal (not to be confused with a Reveal-TO-a-Family-Member, of course).

She’s giving him that look again. Bedraggled and drenched, she crosses her arms over her chest and shivers, blue eyes searing into his. It’s…so different than before, when those chiseled baby blues flashed with nothing less than the utmost contempt. But then had come curiosity and then something open and true, and now there is _this._ And _this_ is dangerous. So, so dangerous. For both of them. 

As they stand across from each other on the rooftop, hiding from the battering onslaught of rain, neither one of them making a motion to move, Chat Noir can see her honesty, her compassion, her pride and strength and determination and _hope_ , and he cannot bear to look. 

Once, he hated the changes he saw there, and some part of him still does, if only because…

No. He will not think of it. It’s impossible anyway.

Chat ducks his head and turns, blond hair slick against his forehead, rivulets of water streaming from the strands’ ends and blurring his vision. He doesn’t necessarily _want_ to leave, for more reasons than one, but he can’t stay, either.

 _He’s_ waiting for him. To yell, to lecture—what does it matter? All Adrien knows is that he must go.

“Wait.”

Her voice is hardly audible, but it carries on the wind. “Please,” she adds, and the single word settles in the chasm between them and sinks its feelers in. Chat’s ears swivel toward her before the rest of his body follows, as though drawn by marionette strings. He balances on the balls of his feet, poised to go at a moment’s notice.

Not that she’ll attack him. Not now. She hasn’t gone on the offensive since her curiosity set in. Not since...

Ladybug’s earrings beep. His gaze snaps to her Miraculous, more out of habit than out of any true desire, and he says as casually as he can manage, “You should go.”

Adrien fails at casual. Plagg is not happy to be this wet, and neither is he. His voice quivers like reeds in the wind, teeth chattering with the cold.

Ladybug shakes her head. “Not yet.” Frowning, she takes a step closer. “You’re hurt.”

The cut on his leg suddenly decides to remind him it’s there, the raindrops stinging like bees, and he rocks his weight onto his good leg. With no small amount of effort, he makes use of the acting lessons his father insisted he take and forces a sneer on his face. The words that fall from his lips taste like bile, each syllable a poisonous thorn scraping its way from brain to throat. “No thanks to _you,_ Bug. Isn’t preventing stuff like this _your_ thing? If you’d been doing your job like you’re—”

“Oh, stop that,” Ladybug says, almost teasingly _._

Her tone catches him off-guard, and as surprised as he is, his façade falls in an instant. She smiles a knowing smile, and this time, he scowls for real. “Stop what?” 

He expects her to get annoyed. She doesn’t like it when he plays dumb, so he’s made it a point to add such behavior to his repertoire, alongside his personal favorite: bad punning. This time, however, she bites her lip, regarding him with a pained expression, before exploding into motion _._ Throwing her arms out, she took a half-step forward and blurted, “PRETENDING!” 

Her knees go weak, and her breathing is haphazard. “Stop…just stop pretending like you didn’t just do something _amazing,_ you stupid _cat!”_

Adrien stares, intrigued and petrified in equal measure. Ladybug may have a temper, and she may be easy to rile up, but this is something else entirely. He doesn’t understand it. Why is she—?

“You _saved_ that child,” she whispers. “You saved her.”

Chat blinks, heart fluttering and swelling, and as a lump grows in his throat, he grimaces and protests darkly, “She was in my way. I just moved her out of it.”

“ _Bull_ shit!” Ladybug exclaims, a sharp note in her voice.“Why do you do this to yourself?” 

Chat’s ears flatten against his head, and he growls, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I refuse to believe you’re a bad person, Chat Noir. Do you hear me? I _refuse_.” 

“Well, I’m sorry to say, but I’m not a _good_ person, either, Bug. I’m Bad Luck incarnate, after all.” Chat bears his fangs and turns, extending his staff. “Now scurry off. You’re wasting my time.”

“No! Wait!” Her hand lands on his shoulder, and he hisses a warning. She is not intimidated in the slightest, but she does remove her hand. He decides to ignore the tingling radiating from where her hand rested and is about to snark at her when he notices the light blush staining her cheeks.

…Um, what? What kind of crazy parallel universe did he fall into here?

Her earrings chirp, and again, he eyes her Miraculous. She has three minutes left. He wonders if she realizes how easily he can take them from her now, as unguarded as she is. Yet here he sits, unwilling and unable to make a move for them. He should be asking himself why he isn’t trying, why he hesitates to take advantage now. Hawkmoth will not be pleased when he discovers this, even if Chat uses his leg injury as an excuse. They’ve only been waiting and fighting and _hurting_ for an opportunity such as this, and now that they have it…

All Adrien can ask himself now is _why isn’t she running?_

“I need to…” Ladybug’s cheeks puff out, and she bows her head. “Thank you, kitty cat. Thank you.”

Adrien freezes. “…What _?_ ”

Her expression is soft, and she closes her bluebell eyes, taking a deep breath. “I wouldn’t have been able to catch that little girl and prevent the bus from crashing at the same time, Chat. You saw. You knew. And you acted. You…I don’t think you understand what you did for me. I didn’t have to make that impossible choice because you were _there_.”

“I—” 

“And this isn’t the first time!” Ladybug snaps, interrupting him. “You’ve shown me mercy. You’ve cared for akuma victims. You’ve minimized civilian involvement by drawing fights out of crowded areas. Even now, you're—I mean, I just…even if the whole world is against you, I’m not. Not anymore.”

No. No, no, no, NO. She can’t do this. She can’t. It isn’t _fair._ Chat’s eyes burn, and he struggles to reject the warmth bubbling inside. He can’t afford to feel this way, not about her and certainly not about what he's done to disobey Hawkmoth. He can’t accept her thanks or so much as acknowledge it. “You should be,” he hisses, frustration welling in his core.   

“I don’t understand,” she presses, and he is beginning to feel trapped. “Things don’t have to be this way! We’re meant to be partners! So why? Why do you do this? Why do you work with _him_?”

“Because I have to!” he roars, almost violent in his desperation to get her to _shut up._ “He’s my _father_ , Bug!”

It’s only when her determined expression slips, awed understanding and horror replacing it, that he realizes what he just said, what he just admitted. Flinching violently, he slinks back a few steps and avoids her eyes, cursing himself and cursing Ladybug for nosing around, for placing her trust in him, for making him feel…

Like he’s worth something again.

Suddenly exhausted, he slumps and shifts his injured leg. The wound is hardly a distraction from the true pain writhing inside, and his voice cracks when he owns up to his mistake and repeats, “Hawkmoth is my father. I can’t abandon him, Ladybug. I can't.”

With her Miraculous singing its final beeps behind him, Adrien launches himself into the rain before he can say more, before he can admit she’s right to question him, his motives, and his loyalties. She’s right. About it all.

They were supposed to be finding Maman, together, as a _family_ , but lately…

Once he's a considerable distance away from Ladybug, Chat shudders to a stop, and before he knows it, any lingering adrenaline coursing through his system disappears. Pressing his back against random brick, he slides down and curls into a ball, trembling. He burrows his eyes into his knees, the image of the girl his father nearly killed flashing behind his eyelids and Ladybug’s sincere and grateful words fueling the guilt and self-loathing raging inside.

All of this was _supposed_ to be for Maman, but lately, Adrien isn't sure he knows what they’re fighting for anymore.


End file.
